A Dash Of Spice
by phoebekate
Summary: I'm Pepper Malone. I'm twenty years old, an art student from central London, and I come with a lot of baggage to check in. I don't let many people into my life, for a handful of reasons. At least, I didn't until I met Dan Howell.
1. Chapter 1

Hello lovelies :) this is my first fan fiction, and it is mainly a straight Dan Howell/OC, but Phil crops up in there sometimes ;) Hope you enjoy it! Please review whether you liked it or not so I can get some feedback :D

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The first time I saw Dan Howell, I didn't quite know what to do with myself. When I say 'first saw' I mean in real life. I had seen his face probably more than a hundred times through a little box on my computer screen, but never in the flesh. Admittedly, my vision was slightly blurred by the two or three (or six) vodka and limes that I had just consumed, but I could definitely tell that it was him stood at the bar across the club from me. Same hair, same nose, same eyes... and oh the eyes.

This called for strategy. I couldn't let this moment slip - how many times would I bump into the one and only Dan Howell in a city the size of London? And hopefully, he would have already necked a few drinks and I would have gone from a 6 to an 8 at least on the attractiveness scale.

"Oh no," I heard from behind me. "She's on the prowl. I know that look." I turned around to see my girlfriends staring expectantly at me, eyebrows raised. They know me too well.

"Which one is it, Pepper?" Caroline asked, craning her neck for any sign of my target.

"By the bar. Tall, dark hair..." I yelled above the music. Caroline pulled a face of approval and smiled.

"Go and play," she continued, and nodded in his direction "but I want you to bring me back a drink. You need an excuse to be going over there anyway." She indicated my half full glass in my hand. I decided I needed (even more) Dutch courage, and downed it in one.

I turned on my heel towards the bar, making sure to do the routine hair-fluff, teeth-check, skirt-isn't-tucked-into-my-underwear as I went. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I just knew that I had to play it ultra cool. Even drunk, I knew that Dan would probably have girls recognising him daily, each and every one of them trying it on with him in a different way. I knew how to get his attention and I was damned if I didn't get it for at least 10 minutes.

I reached the bar, taking care to place myself strategically next to him, although giving him absolutely no eye contact. That's step one. _I have randomly chosen to stand here and I am not at all interested in you thank you very much. _ I bump my elbow with his. Accidentally of course. _Oh look at that, he's turned around. _Step two.

"Sorry," he said, thinking it was his fault. I made sure to flash him my absolutely biggest smile, my bright red painted lips stretching across my teeth, which is the start of step three.

"It's fine" I said, cool as a cucumber in a freezer. "It's pretty packed in here." And here comes step four: I have officially started a conversation, and unless he's a total wanker, he will reply.

"You're telling me," he smiled "It's always busy in here but this is mad." He moved his head closer to my ear as he spoke, so that I could hear him over the music. I could feel his breath moving my hair.

"It's cosy, that's for sure." I replied. I gazed at him wide eyed. Then gave a slightly pouty smile. Then wide eyes again. I saw his gaze flicker from my eyes to my lips and back again; I had his attention, that was for sure. God knows how I had done it but I had. "I haven't seen you in here before" I asked, turning away slightly so that I could flag down the barman.

"No, I don't really come out drinking that often, but tonight's my night off." He grinned, and held up his glass. Night off? Yeah right. I bet he vlogged in his pyjamas. I ordered my two drinks as the barman approached me, and then I turned back to Dan.

"Having a good night then?" I asked, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. God, these shoes were killing me. Should have worn my slippers instead of these 4 inch stilts. Hopefully the look of pure pain didn't reflect in my face, as that was really not the look I was going for.

"Yeah it's alright." he replied, looking around him at the club "I should come out more often actually" he said, looking right back round at me. _Okay, so the shy, slightly immature, gawky Dan that I see in videos definitely doesn't exist in real life_. I could definitely get used to confident Dan.

The barman came towards me with two glasses of clear liquid in his hands. "Six pounds please" he said, tapping it into the till. I reached for my bag, fumbling around for my purse.

"Don't worry, I've got it" I hear Dan say. _Well hello _I think to myself. _Youtube paying well, is it Daniel? _I couldn't quite believe my luck that I was in a random club in London and Dan Howell was buying my drinks for me. I thanked him, and suddenly went quiet, as at this point I would still be trying to get a few decent words out of whoever it was, if it was any other guy. "So, what's your name?" He asks, one elbow on the bar, cool as. He looked so unbelievably sexy, and he obviously didn't know it. He stood with a little bit of a slouch, which I wouldn't doubt for a second was down to being bent over a laptop or xbox controller. His legs were long and lean, as was the rest of him. Now that I had a little more room, I could inch back slightly and I noticed that he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and denim jeans cut at the knees. He looked so effortless and gorgeous. Was I dribbling? No, okay. It's fine.

"Pepper," I replied, shaking my red hair over my shoulder as I said it. It was a habit of mine; it was typical that my parents wanted to name their first girl Pepper and I just happened to have flaming red hair. I made sure to make this obvious whenever I introduced myself. I loved my name, you couldn't help but think of spices whenever you heard it.

"Pepper..." He repeated, and I could see the spicy thoughts running through his mind. Naughty Dan. "I'm Dan." _You don't say. _

"Lovely to meet you Dan." I said, shaking his hand formally. Throw him off the scent slightly; you're just here for friendship. "I need to take this back to my friend, but would you like to dance maybe?" Back to flirting. Do NOT let a man know what you're thinking, they like a chase.

I took Dan's hand, pulling him onto the dance floor. I saw my friends over his shoulder winking and laughing in my direction - they knew me all too well. It was packed on the dance floor, but I didn't mind in the slightest as it pushed me closer to Dan, my breasts only inches away from his chest, which was something that I really couldn't stop noticing.

I flinched as he put a hand casually on my hip - this confident, flirtatious Dan could take a bit of getting used to; I definitely wasn't expecting it. I pulled out my usual moves, swaying my hips as I placed one arm across his shoulder. I knew he could feel my body brushing against his, and he must have approved because he added another hand to my other hip. I wasn't used to this kind of attention this quickly from men, and I was enjoying it.

The music changed and my heart lifted as I heard my favourite song, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons tumble from the speakers. The heavy beat of the song matched the thumping that was coming from my chest as I looked at Dan. He looked right into my eyes and I struggled to keep myself upright as I looked into his. They were so deep and brown, and they glittered as the lights form the club flashed across his face.

I tried to ignore the fact that all I wanted to do was put both hands either side of his face and kiss him into oblivion. He gave me a look that sobered me right up and he lent forward, tilting his head to the left. I bent mine to the right. Our lips were centimeters apart.

I pulled away. "Do you want to sit down?" I said, flustered. My conscience battled with itself in my head, but good, respectable Pepper won as I knew that I didn't want to waste this kiss when I was hammered, because, to be quite honest, I had secretly imagined this happening for a very long time. I wasn't about to just do it without even thinking.

Dan's face fell slightly, but then he smiled "Of course, there's a free table over there." He pointed towards it with the bottle of Becks that he had in his hand. "Lead the way"

"Tell me something about yourself then" he asked me, as we settled down into a booth in the corner of the club. Was this guy for real? Gorgeous, and interested in me. I'm onto a winner.

"There isn't much to say," I started, pushing ice cubes around in my glass with my straw. "I'm studying art at Goldsmiths… I'm originally from Dorset and I love bubble baths." I said with a smirk. Dan laughed. He was sat with his arm across the back of the booth, his long legs stretched out underneath the table. "What about yourself?" I asked, even though I knew the answer to this already. I wanted to see how long I could keep this up without him knowing that I recognised him from the internet.

That was all part of my plan - he was probably used to girls throwing themselves at his feet on a regular basis, so my strategy was to treat him like any other guy. I was serene and aloof. At least, that's what I was aiming for. I had a few drinks inside me so serene and aloof could have been translated as just plain drunk.

"I used to study law. But now I'm just working." He said, taking a swig of his beer.

"What do you do?" I asked, shifting my body so that my knee was brushing his leg.

"Internet stuff" He replied cryptically. So I was right, he did just want to have a decent conversation with someone that wasn't trying to get in his pants because he was internet famous. Admittedly, I wouldn't have minded that at all, but if he was just any other guy in a club, I still would have been ridiculously attracted to him, and the tingling pull that I kept feeling in between my legs whenever I looked into his eyes just confirmed this.

"I see" I said, not wanting to make it look like I was pushing the matter further. "You know what, it's actually getting a bit shit in here, do you want to go for a walk?" I suggested.

There was a slight pause. "Yeah. Sure." He replied with a smile. I took his hand and we walked from the club, on the way I gave my group of girls a knowing nod and a wink.

When we had finally got outside, the cool late summer breeze hit me and I shivered. "My place is just around the corner, do you fancy a coffee or something?" I suggested, rubbing my bare arms. My feet were really starting to hurt.

"Good idea. You look frozen!" He said, putting his arm round my shoulders as we walked. He smelt of aftershave and soap. That tingling feeling came back as I got a nosefull.

"Wont your friends worry where you are?" I asked as we turned right down the next road.

"Naa, I'll text them in a bit. I don't live far from here either so it's no worry. My friend has a key to our flat so it's fine." He said, patting the pocket of his jeans, and I heard keys jangle inside.

I was started to sober up in the cold now. Didn't mean I didn't fancy playing a bit of a game though.

"How is Phil these days then?" I asked casually.

"He's fi- What?!" He stopped and looked at me. I just gave him a sly grin. "You know!" At first I thought he was angry for me lying to his face about not knowing what he did, but then he laughed hard and freely. "You're good! I genuinely didn't think you knew who I was."

I grinned at him, glad that he saw the funny side of my little joke. He put his arm back around my shoulder and I wrapped mine around his waist. We were far too comfortable with each other seeing as he had only met about half an hour previously, but the alcohol was definitely helping us on our way.

"Yeah, I've watched your videos for a while now." I admitted sheepishly. That sounded so lame, and I said so.

"It's not lame at all. I think it's cool." He replied, giving me a smile. "I love meeting fans. But I like being able to go out and people not knowing who I am. So I suppose you're a combination of the two, you sneaky bugger." He laughed and squeezed my shoulders.

We chatted for the next few minutes as we walked down the street. By the time we had turned into my road, my feet felt like lead and I couldn't wait to kick my ridiculous shoes off.

"Wow, we really do live close" He said, looking up at my house. "I'm about ten minutes in the other direction. How come I've never seen you before?" He followed me up the garden path.

"Because I'm a recluse and don't come out in the day. My ten cats understand me better than any human." I joked, unlocking my front door. I suddenly became conscious of the fact that my shared house was a shit hole, and from what I had seen in his videos, Dan lived in an expensive, pristine flat. "I'm sorry if it's a mess - it's not me, it's the other girls. It drives me crazy." I kicked some shoes out of the way as I took him into the hallway.

"It's fine - Phil is just as bad, as you probably know." He said, looking around him as I flicked the light on. I desperately wanted to get him upstairs so that he couldn't see the empty cereal bowls in the kitchen and piles of clothes in the living room. "I used to be a student too remember? I know how students are." He laughed, and placed a hand on the small of my back, which made me jump.

I wandered into the kitchen and went about making two cups of coffee. Dan settled himself on the sofa in the living room. "How many people are living here?" He asked, leaning back into the cushions.

"Erm… five." I replied, my head in the cupboard, looking for sugar. "How many sugars do you want?"

"Two please. And milk" He gave me a dazzling smile which made me nearly drop the sugar bowl.

We chattered away as I made the coffees. While the kettle was boiling I kicked my heels off and nearly sighed orgasmically as my bare feet made contact with the carpet. Ahhh, sweet relief.

I poured the coffee, stirred it, then carried them both over to Dan, who stood up to take one from me. It was only when I got close to him when I realised how tall he actually was, compared to my menial 5"4. Now I wasn't in heels, he towered over me. He looked straight into my eyes again and I gazed back, trying to stop myself from falling at his feet.

We stood in silence for a second, not breaking each other's gaze. Without looking away, Dan took both mugs from me and put them on the coffee table. Then it was like two cars hitting each other at top speed; he pushed his mouth onto mine, and it took me a few seconds to respond as I couldn't quite believe my luck, but I was soon leaning right into the kiss. He tasted of alcohol and something sweet, and his mouth was soft and warm.

Dan wasted no time in parting my lips with his tongue, and I soon felt his his warm, wet tongue flicking over mine. I wrapped both my arms around his neck, and tangled my fingers in his hair. His hands went to the small of my back, and he pulled me right up close to his chest. I could feel the heat between us as he hastened the speed of the kiss. He felt urgent and panicked, but in a good way. A sexual way. He lifted me onto my tiptoes so I was hanging from his neck, our mouths still locked. He brought a hand up into my thick hair, caressing the back of my head and burying his fingers in my curls.

I pulled away. "What about the coffee?" I asked, looking up into his eyes which were filled with desire.

"I think the coffee can wait." He said shortly, and bent me backwards into another kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**First off, if you're reading this having been redirected from tumblr, thank you so much for your support and kind words, means so much :) **

**In this chapter, you don't actually get to see much of Dan (I know, I'm sorry :( he was washing his hair or something) but you get to meet all the girls (and what is more important than your girls?) and also a bit of background information on Miss Pepper Malone, she has had an interesting past, that's for sure. **

**Enjoy!**

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It was dark. I felt myself being thrown across the room and my head hit a hard, cold wall. I put my hand up underneath my hair to the spot where my head had met the concrete, and felt something warm and sticky and wet between my fingertips. I looked up through concussed eyes and saw a calloused fist coming towards me-

"FUCK" I screamed, sitting bolt upright in my bed. I was fine. _It was just a dream._ I told myself, like I did most nights. I fell back onto my pillow, my head thumping with the start of a hangover, and I collected my thoughts from the night before. I couldn't help my heart soar for a millisecond and then drop instantly. I had met Dan Howell. He had come back home with me. And now he wasn't here...

I still had my clothes on, and I didn't _feel _like we had done anything... which was good because if we had and he had done a runner, I would have had to hunt him down, put his balls on a grill pan and serve them on toast to my housemates. I searched around the room for any sign of his whereabouts, but could find nothing. I checked my phone. Nothing. No number had been put into it, and I know I hadn't given him mine.

Maybe he was downstairs. It was about half ten in the morning, so I expected at least a couple of my housemates to be downstairs either ready for work or lectures. I changed out of my skirt and tank top and wrapped my dressing gown around me, tying it at my waist and pushing my hands deep into the fluffy pockets.

I couldn't hear much as I descended the stairs; just a few broken words from the television, some cutlery clattering and a female voice. No sign of Dan though. I turned into the living room to see Caroline lying flat out on the sofa in her Tescos uniform, and Becca pottering about in the kitchen, washing dishes and humming along to something cheesy on the radio.

"Morning!" Becca trilled upon spotting me, and she flicked the switch on the kettle. She was always far too cheery to be hungover, but that was just Becca for you- my little ray of sunshine. "Where did you disappear to last night? I didn't know if you were in or not." She planted a sweet kiss on the top of my head.

I moved over to the sofa and scratched the top of Caroline's head. "Hey love," she said, peering up at me. "My heads killing me."

I noticed that there were two mismatched mugs sat on the table in the middle of the room, each with presumably stone cold coffee in. "No where," I replied to Becca glumly. "Came back here. Did that guy I was with last night come down here this morning?" I asked the girls.

"Not that I know of" Becca shrugged, handing me a coffee and a slice of toast. "Have that, I'll make myself another one."

"Oh." I replied, trying to act nonchalant and blasé when I was actually so hurt I felt a fire brewing in my gut.

"You're not telling me some assholes done a runner on you?" Caroline asked, sitting upright and turning to face me. "What a bastard!" Her and Becca looked at each other, and then back at me. "Did you do anything with him?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No not really" I said, looking at my feet. I didn't know what to call that kiss he had given me. It wasn't anything, but it wasn't nothing either. I was finding it hard to hide my disappointment from the girls.

"What do you mean _not really_, Pepper." Becca sat down in an armchair, looking at me with a concerned expression.

Before I continue, I think a bit of a background check on Becca is needed. Becca and I were best friends when we were in Primary school, and were right up until the end of secondary school. At that point, we both went our separate ways: I went to college for a year, and she went off on her gap year. We hated to admit it, but we lost contact, which is what happens to a lot of friends at this point in their lives. It wasn't until I posted on Facebook that I had been accepted into Goldsmiths that she messaged me to say that she had been accepted into UCL, and it was like we had never been apart.

Becca was my rock, and I would not have been able to get through any of the things in my life so far without her.

"We kissed." I said, and it was the honest truth. We had a few more minutes of insanely passionate kissing, and I took him to my bedroom, where we continued said activities. I was just about to pull his t-shirt over his head when he stopped me short. He didn't want to have sex. I didn't know what to think; my first thought was that I had pushed him into it, but it was actually sort of nice. We just chatted for hours, like we had known each other for years. He told me about his childhood, ex girlfriends, parents, law school, all the while rubbing the palm of my hand with our fingers intertwined until I must have fallen asleep in his arms.

He hadn't exactly shagged me and done a runner. So why did this hurt so badly?

"Fuck them all." Caroline said shortly. "They're all wankers anyway. What prick in their right mind would leave a fucking beauty like you?" Oh god, I had set off the swears.

"It's fine. I think I might just go back to bed." I said, rubbing my eyes with the heel of my hand. Mascara and eyeliner transfered onto it. "Or maybe I need a shower."

"Yes, go and have a hot shower, and then we're going out. I'm dropping Caroline off at work so we can both do a bit of shopping." Becca soothed, rubbing my arm as she got up to butter her toast that had just popped out of the toaster. "How does that sound?"

Becca to the rescue, as always. "Thank you mum." I joked, and took a bite out of my toast.

I walked back into my room after I had showered, a towel wrapped round me and my slippers on my feet. I threw open my curtains, letting the late morning sun pour through the window, which I pushed open to let some fresh air in. Today was going to be a feel-good day, I had decided. I pulled on my favourite jeans, and buttoned a sheer white blouse up to my neck, tucking it into my waistband. I brushed the damp tangles out of my hair, and flicked it over my shoulder, allowing it to dry naturally into my trademark waves.

I wasn't going to let anyone upset me today. Not even gorgeous, sensitive, adorable youtubers called Dan Howell. Definitely not.

I couldn't help feel a little upset everytime it flashed into my mind, however. I had fallen ass over tit for that boy, I had to admit. We had spent so long just talking... sharing things with each other. I had a really good feeling about it. I suppose that was just me though. Get your hopes up, then have them dropped from a great height.

I picked up my phone, and went on twitter. The first post I saw when I refreshed the page made my heart drop like a stone.

**Dan Howell danisnotonfire** _Great night, now to catch up on some zzzzzzzzzzs. _**_30m ago_**

Oh YOU'VE had a great night have you mister Howell? Well that's good then. I hope the next girl you ditch gives you herpes and your balls drop off before you get a chance to leave.

I threw my phone onto my bed, where it continued to bounce off, and fall behind my headboard.

"Fine, stay there" I said to it, before shaking myself. I was not about to start talking to things that couldn't talk back, I'd get carted off to a mental institute if I wasn't careful.

I quickly ran a mascara wand over my lashes and dabbed some concealer underneath my eyes, then grabbed my purse and slipped my feet into some sandals before heading downstairs. Becca and Caroline were waiting for me, their eyes nearly stuck to the television screen.

"Jeremy Kyle?" I asked.

"Yep. There's a girl on here who is pregnant, and the father could either be her boyfriend... or his dad." Becca said, without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Thrilling. Are we going?" I said, perching on the arm of the sofa.

"Yeah," Caroline said quickly, switching off the TV and getting to her feet. "I'm going to be late and then I'll be on my last warning." She said casually.

Out of all the girls, Caroline was the most laid back. She was a no make up, no worries kind of girl, and was never phased by a thing. Sometimes, I really needed Caroline to bring me back down to earth. So out of all of the people in the world, I wouldn't have chosen to be with anyone else other than Becca and Caroline when I had just been jilted.

"I had another nightmare last night." I said flatly, pushing my pasta around my plate. Becca and I had stopped for a late lunch at Prezzos, but I was finding it hard to stomach anything. Becca paused, her fork half way up to her mouth. A pasta bow fell back onto her plate. She raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" She asked cautiously. "Are you okay? I thought they were dying down."

I shook my head. "It always seems to happen when I'm drunk or restless. It woke me up though."

"And it was the s-"

"The same one. Yeah." I snapped. I looked up at Becca, who didn't even get offended by the way I spoke to her. "I'm sorry," I apologised. "I'm just really tired."

"I completely understand," she replied, and gave me a beaming smile. "You know any of us will drop anything in a heart beat for you. I know you don't like talking about what happened but... we're here for you." She skated quickly around the subject, and suddenly changed it. "What do you want to do Monday night?"

"Let's have a girls night in. All five of us." I suggested, poking some pasta into my mouth. I actually was pretty hungry. Nothing like best friends to put you back on top form. "We can buy some popcorn, and watch some films."

"Good idea. I could do with one of those. No XY chromosomes allowed."

We had all settled down in the living room a few days later, ready for our girl's night in: Becca and I on the sofa, Caroline in the armchair and Sophia and Jade on the floor, lounging over the duvets that we had brought downstairs. If anyone came in at that moment, it would have just looked like a pile of colourful duvets with five little heads poking out at various angles.

"Ooh, I forgot the wine." Jade piped up from the floor, and moved to the fridge, producing two bottles of chilled rosé. She poured it into plastic tumblers and shared them around. "Should I put the popcorn in now?"

"Go on then, I'm hungover-starving." Sophia said, rearranging pillows underneath her.

"Is that the type of starving you get when you're hungover and you don't stop being hungry?" Caroline asked, poking at Sophia with her toe to make her stop fidgeting.

"Yep. I've been hangover-starving all day, so I'm ready for some buttery popcorny goodness." Sophia laughed, finally settled.

Jade produced three large bags of kernels ready to be popped, and set about putting them in the microwave and transferring them to bowls while we started the film. _Miss Congeniality_, an absolute classic for a girl's night in.

It was just getting to the point when Sandra Bullock is walking out of the warehouse, newly transformed into Gracie Lou Freebush (all of us singing along to Mustang Sally albeit loudly and tunelessly) when there was a knock on the front door. We all looked at each other. Jade to Sophie, Sophie to Caroline, Caroline to Becca, Becca to me. Ugh.

"Fineeee, I'll get it." I said, pulling myself off the sofa. I adjusted my pyjamas and headed for the front door.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't the tall, dark haired, tanned boy that had been playing over and over like a broken record in my mind for the past few nights.

"Dan?!" I spluttered, not quite believing it. I quickly gained composure and wiped a stony expression onto my face. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for interrupting anything..." He started, and I suddenly felt self conscious about being in my pyjamas. "but I thought I would come see how you are... as I haven't heard from you in a few days and I had a really good night at the weekend..." he gushed, looking at his feet. I was really confused.

"But you left?" I snapped back, arms crossed, leant against the doorway. "I don't even know why I'm having this conversation with you, I hardly know you-" I turned to leave, but he moved his arm out, quick as a bullet, to stop the door closing.

"I thought you'd understand." He said, confused. "I don't know what it is about you, but I'm not letting you slip through my fingers."

My heart swelled at his words, and I found myself momentarily dumbstruck. I shook myself. No, you're pissed off at him acting like every other guy, aren't you. "You didn't just have to up and leave!" I explained.

"Pepper, I left a note." He retorted, confused.

"I didn't see a- did you?" I asked, genuinely confused now. What was this guy playing at?

"I left a note on your pillow explaining why I had to leave. You didn't find it?" He said, looking nearly as confused as me. "I suppose that was why you didn't contact me..."

"I think I would have found a note from you, Dan. Are you sure you didn't just flake out and decide to leave me?" I exclaimed, and I could feel myself turning nasty. I tried to reign myself in; this had happened to me far too many times.

"I left it on your pillow, of course I wasn't just flaking out on you." He said, looking a bit hurt. "I wouldn't do that, I think you're great."

"Really?" I could feel a hot blush rising in my cheeks. "Thanks, I guess. Do you want to come in? We could try and find this mysterious note."

Dan gave me a smile and followed me over the threshold, shutting the door behind him. We walked past the living room, and I looked in to see four girls sat under duvets with their heads up like meerkats.

"He left a note." I explained to them, then pointed upstairs.

"Ohhh." Sighed Jade and Becca in unison. Caroline gave me a wink as we headed up stairs.

I shut the door behind us when we got into my room, and I looked around for any sign of a note.

"It may have fallen under the bed?" Dan suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

I bent down and rubbed my hand around underneath the bed, but all I could find was some dust and some hair bands. No note.

"What about round the back?" I didn't doubt that a note couldn't have fallen down the back of the bed while I had been having my bad dream. "I had left it on the pillow." He said.

I lay flat on my stomach on the bed, and reached my arm down the back. The first thing my fingertips hit was my phone - so _that's _where the bloody thing had got to. I pulled it out and dove back down, my fingers closing around a slip of thin paper.

_Pepper - I'm so sorry I couldn't have been here when you woke up, turns out Phil didn't have his keys and I have to go and let him in. I tried to wake you but you were out for the count. How about text me in the morning and I will buy you some breakfast. Thanks for a great night x_

His number followed, and I couldn't help but laugh at the goofy smiley face that he had drawn, and the fact that the whole letter appeared to be written in one of my eyeliners.

"I'm sorry Dan," I said, looking up at him. "I really thought you had just ditched me. I assumed you were going to be like any other bloke. I'm wrong, obviously." I laughed nervously.

He took my hand and pulled me off of the bed, looking right into my eyes like he had done a few nights previously. "Don't worry, beautiful." He kissed me tenderly on the lips.


End file.
